The problem with many Chinese phones is that they can be difficult to get hold of in the UK, and should something go wrong it is more difficult to get it sorted. To buy a Chinese phone in the UK you'll either need to look on a site such as eBay or Amazon, or go through a grey-market importer such as Geekbuying, GearBest or Coolicool. Be sure to read up on our grey-market tech buying advice before you do so.

Should you buy a Chinese phone in the UK?

Pros:

• Excellent value for money

• Competitive specification

• Dual-SIM

• None of your friends will have the same phone

Cons:

• Faulty devices may be difficult to return

• You may incur import duty (charged at 20 percent of the value on the shipping paperwork plus an admin fee)

Features and specifications

The majority of Chinese phones we've reviewed have been dual-SIM dual-standby. Sometimes, though, this second SIM comes at the expense of the microSD slot - it's often one or the other.

An increasing number of phones will support 4G on both SIM slots, but dual-standby phones will ask you to select one or the other for data.

The fact that a Chinese phone supports 4G doesn't necessarily mean it will work on your UK network, mind. Always check a phone's frequency bands before purchase, because Chinese phones are often missing the 800MHz band (band 20).

Whereas Qualcomm-made processors are popular in UK phones, many Chinese phones come with cheaper MediaTek chips. The fastest among these are the Helio X25, X27 and X30. Typically speaking they're not quite as fast as their Qualcomm cousins, though they are more than capable of your daily tasks. A key difference is their support for HotKnot rather than NFC.

Three or four gigs of RAM is not uncommon, with some even specifying 6GB, while storage is usually 32GB or 64GB as standard.

You will almost certainly find a fingerprint scanner, plus an often dual-lens 13Mp camera at the rear and 5- or 8Mp at the front. The camera functionality is very similar to that of any other Android phone, but you may find the Face Beauty mode whitens your skin tone.

A full-HD screen is common, with Quad-HD very rare but HD screens are still found in the cheapest models. Most have large screens 5.5in in diameter or more.

The screen is usually a good-quality IPS panel, and may often be marketed as having 2.5D Arc glass or 3D glass. This does not mean the screen is curved, but rather that the edges of the screen are slightly curved.

Gorilla Glass is another common feature, which is fortunate because getting hold of a case for a Chinese phone can be as involved as buying the phone itself.

Customisable gestures are not built into Android, but they are very common in Chinese phones. This means you are likely to be able to double-tap to wake the screen, and by drawing a letter onscreen in standby mode you will be able to launch an app of your choice. Many Chinese phones will also allow you to use gestures to trigger the camera shutter.

We won't recommend any Chinese phone we haven't physically tested. Thus we offer this chart not as a definitive guide to buying Chinese phones, but as a guide to what you can expect for your money when you buy from China.

This is one of the best phones you can buy even if it is the first OnePlus phone without a headphone jack. An in-screen fingerprint sensor, better speaker and more battery is the pay-off, and it's worth it.

The large display is excellent, the dual cameras are more capable than ever and performance is the best you can get on Android right now along with the Pixel 3.

You'll need to like the colour black, but OnePlus continues - just - to undercut industry prices enough to stand out.

Swapping out the awkwardly placed selfie camera with a new dual-lens model that is tucked away behind the screen, the Mi Mix 3 is one of several new slider phones that shows how the concept should work. Not only allowing a proper full-screen display, but adding new quick-access functionality to the phone.

In other respects Mi Mix 3 is not a huge upgrade over the 2S, and actually loses some of its bling over its predecessor with the absence of its 18K gold camera surround. But it's still a great phone, available at an incredible price, and it's astonishing to see just how far the original full-display phone has come.

We recommend purchasing the UK model, unless you're on an extremely tight budget. But you can't argue with the pricing: at £499 Mi Mix 3 offers phenomenal value.

Astonishing value, insane performance, awesome photography, a larger than ever 18.7:9 AMOLED display and a cool new 3D Face recognition feature are all reasons why you should rush out and buy the Mi 8. It retails at £459 (and is available from Amazon right now for £410), which is several hundred pounds cheaper than many of the phones with which it competes.

We're sad to see Xiaomi not keeping up with its rivals in terms of wireless charging, waterproofing and a Quad-HD screen, and that the highly anticipated in-display fingerprint is unique to the Explorer Edition, but at this price we can hardly complain. Amazing phone, highly recommended.

The Mate 20 Pro is an outstanding phone. The cameras will be the highlight for many people, but it really is a fantastic all-rounder with a top-quality screen, super-fast charging, wireless charging and excellent battery life.

It isn't perfect, but the small niggles shouldn't be deal-breakers for most people.

There's no doubt that the Pocophone F1 is one of the best Chinese phones we've ever tested.

Xiaomi has done an outstanding job of creating an impressively high-spec phone for a mind-blowingly cheap price. It's might not be the thinnest and lightest phone around but the design is still attractive and desirable.

If you like the Mi8 but your budget can't stretch this this is the phone for you.

In the P20 Pro Huawei has delivered a stunning phone which should be on your shortlist along with the Galaxy S9 and iPhone X. Sure, there are some niggles such as the lack of stabilisation for 4K video, no headphone jack and no wireless charging,but if your priority is photography then the P20 Pro does not disappoint.

Add in the long battery life, dual SIM slots and great screen and you've got the complete package: this is one of the best phones of 2018.

It's not perfect, but the Vivo Nex is certainly an impressive smartphone that offers something a little different for consumers. It boasts a fingerprint scanner embedded in the display, a notch-less design and a front-facing camera that pops out of the frame when required. It's not just a gimmicky concept phone though; the performance is good enough to compete with flagship smartphones from the likes of Samsung, OnePlus and LG.

The original full-display smartphone is evolving into something really special. Now with wireless charging, faster performance and a dual-camera that builds in AI, the Mi Mix 2S is a closer rival to western flagships than ever - and at a fraction of the price.

The Mi Mix 2S majors on performance and design. With its ceramic, mirror-finish case and 18:9 display it looks and feels incredible in the hand.

With full Google services the Xiaomi is easy to recommend, although it's not ideal for selfie and audio fanatics with a poorly positioned front camera and a mono speaker that doesn't make up for the lack of a headphone jack.

Battery life could also be better, and we'd like to see the company finally take the plunge with a Quad-HD display and waterproofing.

The Mi 8 Lite is an excellent-value mid-range phone with a gorgeous design and some decent hardware, particularly in the camera department. We're excited for what Xiaomi's entrance to the UK means for the mid-range smartphone market.

The inclusion of Android One makes Xiaomi phones so much more easily accessible to UK- and US users - and that's a very good thing, finally allowing those outside China and India (and more recently Spain, France and Italy) a taste of what else is out there on the market.

A fantastic budget phone, the Mi A2 combines decent build quality with a nice display, good all-round performance and a well-specced trio of cameras. It out-specs and out-performs every other phone in our budget smartphone chart.

A stunning design isn't enough to conceal the imperfections, and while the U Pro from Elephone makes a very decent mid-range handset you will get more for less money elsewhere, such as in the Mi 8 Lite and Mi A2. Nonetheless, as mid-range phones go we don't think too many users will be disappointed.

In performance terms, it's nipping at the heels of the year's top flagships, and only lacking flashy features like waterproofing or a bezel-less screen. It looks great, it runs fast, and it costs less than £300 now.

The Mate 10 Pro is easily one of the best phones from Huawei yet and the dual rear cameras deliver excellent portrait photos. They can't quite best the Pixel 2 XL's photos but the Mate 10 Pro has a better screen, better battery life and just as much processing power.

Recent EMUI updates have added features that were previously exclusive to the P20 Pro, so at this price, the Mate 10 Pro is very good value indeed.

The Magic 2 is a beautiful piece of hardware, with a triple selfie camera hidden behind a manual slider - which pulls double duty as a satisfying novelty and the enabler of a big, beautiful 6.39in AMOLED display.

Performance is rock solid - no surprise with the Kirin 980 inside - and the 45W superfast charging is very welcome, but so-so camera performance and software irritations thanks to the Chinese setup are enough to make us question whether the Magic 2 is worth the cost - or hassle - of importing.

The Oppo Find X is amazing and annoying at the same time. It's hard not to be impressed by the design, but it could also turn out to be its biggest flaw if the mechanism breaks over time. And with no fingerprint sensor you can't use many apps with biometric security.

But then again this phone is pure show-off, and at this stage that's why you'll buy it. Like the Xiaomi Mi Mix, it's a concept phone that pushes the future of personal tech closer. The less than ideal software design drags it down somewhat, and you can spend less on better phones.

The Mi Note 3 is a downgrade on the Mi6 and, arguably, the Mi Note 2, but it appeals with a lower price and an attractive premium design. Though it doesn't feature a flagship processor, this is is a very capable smartphone with a very decent dual-camera. Provided you can live without 800MHz 4G and are happy to install Google Play Services yourself, it's difficult not to recommend the Mi Note 3.